How You Can Make Time For Your Family Despite Your Busy Work Schedule
Striking a balance between work and home is never an easy task, but it is most critical for everyone in the family to be happy, including yourself. How well you can juggle your work and home life will directly determine your relationship with every member of your immediate family. It can be hard to make choices about how much work to take on and make enough money and see to your family at the same time, but it’s a choice that needs to be made.
First up, there is no right or wrong choice as each individual’s circumstances are very different. We all have different responsibilities, incomes, and aspirations for the future. Your choices will also be very dynamic, and a choice you make today will not necessarily still be applicable or suitable in the years to come. Life is about change, and as life changes, so do circumstances, needs, and what you can and cannot manage. Go with the flow! Here is how you can learn to strike a balance between the work-life you have chosen and life at home:
Be Calm
Your children will appreciate any amount of time with you if your attitude or mood is not toxic. By toxic, we mean if you walk through the door complaining and moaning and biting their heads off about this or that because you’ve had a rough day. We all have bad days, and you can’t really stop them from happening to you, but how you respond to it makes all the difference. If you have to, ask your kids and spouse to give you a 10-to-30-minute window (depending on how much time you can afford) to recover from your day and to re-energize, take a shower, calm yourself, and then spend time with them. They will appreciate your full attention, happiness to be with them, and you being present in the moment. Try it!
Eat Together
We know that sometimes, time just isn’t on your side, and you don’t actually come home at a reasonable time for the kids to have dinner with you. If you do, make it a habit to have dinner as a family. It can be especially helpful if it becomes a routine that everyone helps out to pull together dinner and clean up afterward, making it easier on everyone and more enjoyable, too. However, even if the kids have already had dinner, you can compromise by having everyone sit at the table and have a light snack or a warm drink while you have your dinner. The point is to spend time together as a family at the table.
Make a Kids Night
Weeks days are rough, and time is tight. If you can dedicate just one set day in a week for the children, and you can agree on this day with your spouse, then the kids will have a night that is all for them. This will be a night that they will greatly appreciate, and it can really make up for a lot of lost time in the week. This is a night that will build up plenty of enjoyable family memories for them to look back on, and it may even help you relax a bit. Think of ideas and present them to the kids and let them choose what they would like to do for the night. Of course, it is best if they decide on this in advance so there is no stress to plan or prepare at the last minute.
Help Your Kids Unwind For Bedtime
Even if you don’t have a lot of time to be with your children throughout the day, just your presence as they prepare themselves for bed will be plenty for them. Sitting with your young children as they take a bath will help them feel happier and help them wind down. Reading a story with them or for them is a good opportunity to help them lower their energy levels and have better sleep. Spending the last few moments of their waking hours of the day with them will help them sleep soundly and have a refreshing time the next day. You, too, will appreciate the time you spent with your child or children, and you won’t beat yourself up with guilt for having worked all day.
The more work you take on, the harder it is to share your energy with your family. You can’t always choose to do less work, so you have to make other choices like the ones we illustrated above just to make the day a little more meaningful for everyone!
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